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Protesters angered by welfare 'punishment'

BY ANDREW HALL CANBERRA — Opponents of the federal government's harsh new welfare "reforms" rallied here on September 29, rally organiser Julie Vojneski from the Social Justice Action Group fiercely condemning Prime Minister John Howard and

Insurance rebates goes to wealthy

BY JON SINGER The Australia Institute released a report on September 25 that shows nearly half of the federal government's $2.3 billion private health insurance rebate went to the top third of income earners, while the bottom third received just

INDONESIA: Scores injured after Suharto goes free

Some 30 people were injured and at least 46 arrested in Jakarta on September 27 in a series of clashes between anti-Suharto and pro-Suharto protesters and the police, following the dismissal of corruption charges against the former Indonesian

VIETNAM: Workers in winning streak

HO CHI MINH CITY — When a canteen manager in the Taiwanese shoe company Hue Phong physically attacked female Vietnamese workers, for "standing out of line" at the dinner queue, the company was immediately confronted by the wrath of the entire

Spotlight on Indonesia and West Papua

Five people shot dead by police Five people were shot dead by police who were attempting to fend off an attack on a police station in the East Java town of Bondowoso. The Jakarta Post said that, according to police, some 600 people carrying Molotov

A glimpse at the history of rap

Louder than a BombVarious artistsCompiled by Chuck DRhino records BY JAMES VASSILOPOULOS This year is the 21st anniversary of the "birth" of rap as a commercial music. In 1979, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang was the first rap song to

Looking Out: A question

A question “Democracies cannot dispense with hypocrisy any more than dictatorships can with cynicism” — Georges Bernanos, 1888-1948. Before I begin, let me make it perfectly clear that I am not attacking anyone's sexual

MUA leaders fail to back sacked delegate

BY DANIEL KELLY SYDNEY — Dave Hauser was sacked from his job as a wharfie with P&O here in March, for allegedly reading a newspaper on the job. A delegate for the Maritime Union of Australia, Hauser was one of several to be sacked in the past

Where to now for the indigenous rights movement?

COMMENT BY KIM BULLIMORE The Olympic Games were surely the "perfect" platform to showcase the issues that affect indigenous Australia. When almost half a million people showed their support for indigenous people by marching across the Sydney

and ain't i a woman: Greenham Common women inspired many

Greenham Common women inspired many BY MARGARET ALLUM “We say no to the threat of global holocaust, no to the arms race, no to death. We say yes to a world where people, animals, plants and the earth itself are respected and

BRAZIL: Land reform activist murdered

BRAZIL: Land reform activist murdered Sandoval Alves de Lima, a land reform activist and one of the leaders of a group of landless families occupying an estate in northeastern Brazil, has been shot dead by a gunman closely linked to the

Squatters resist eviction

BY AARON BENEDEK SYDNEY — "Evictions are increasing, Olympic rents are going through the roof, and there is a chronic housing shortage", according to Gavin Sullivan, a Sydney Housing Action Collective (SHAC) spokesperson. But this hasn't stopped